"You thieving bitch! How dare you wear something you clearly stole proudly like that, in the middle of your forehead?"
The redhead finished her loud shout and lunged on Haruka, trying to punch her square in the face. Except that a situation that involved nine other highly skilled shinobi couldn't go as smoothly as she seemed to think it would.
Haruka's brothers and friends knew that she didn't need their protection, so they didn't make a move and just watched as one of her hands grabbed the fist coming for her and crushed it using her chakra enhanced strength. The redhead didn't even get a chance to howl from the pain because Haruka's other hand had shot at the same time to cover her mouth with a grip so tight it sealed her mouth shut. She would definitely have finger shaped bruises on her cheeks after that.
The Senju brothers hadn't had the time to stop their companion before she jumped, but as soon as they heard the sound of crushed bones, they tried to come and help her only to be stopped by Haruka's companions. Madara stood in front of Hashirama, Izuna was blocking Tobirama's way while giving him a deranged smile, Hikaku was glaring at Itama and Natsuki stood protectively behind Madara ready to give him a hand if needed.
Only Jinshi stood to the side of the road. His status as the heir of the Hyuga clan prevented him from participating or even picking a side, but he was still glaring disapprovingly at the redhead. The passersby on the street had all retreated to the side. They had all recognized the people involved in this fight thanks to their clan crests, but morbid curiosity prevented them from running to a safer place even when their self-preservation instincts were screaming at them.
The stare down lasted for a while. Everybody was holding their breath, but nobody wanted to be the one to make the first move. Despite her pain, the redhead had tried to free herself, but Haruka was stronger and only needed a hundredth of her strength to keep her firmly in place in the same painful position. After staring at her for a while, Haruka finally knew why the girl seemed familiar. She was the same idiot she had saved back in the Uzumaki compound.
Haruka wasn't exactly expecting thank-yous, but at the very least she wasn't expecting to get attacked in the middle of the capital in such a humiliating fashion. She wasn't exactly a patient person to begin with, and years of associating with the Uchiha had won over a lot of the training she had received in her past life, so she decided to be the one to start. " Just what exactly do you think you're doing? I thought you were dumb before, but right now I'm starting to think that retarded is a more defining word."
Hashirama, who was still staring down at Madara, tried to intervene. " That's my cousin Uzumaki Mito. I apologize for her behavior. Her wounds are still fresh and she didn't think before acting. Uzumaki hot headedness and what not. Let's just leave it at this. Let her go, and each group will be on its way. No need to make a scene.".
Izuna gave a loud snort from where he was facing Tobirama and answered him dryly. "So that bitch can just go around attacking people at random, because you say so. Nah treefucker, it doesn't go that way. The other cowards may wiggle their tails at you, but not the Uchiha. She will be taught a lesson today. She picked the wrong girl to start a fight. Haruka will tear her to shreds, and we are going to make sure she gets all the time she needs to do so.".
Tobirama glared harder, if that was even possible, and answered him. " That's not what he meant, asshole, and you know it. Stop being an obnoxious shithead for once in your worthless life and back off." Izuna didn't bother with answering him, and just adjusted his stance, ready to go into action.
Madara turned his head slightly to give her a questioning look. She knew what he meant. The choice was hers, if she backed out they would too, and if she didn't he was ready to go all in for her.
Haruka just sighed and looked at her captive once more, before saying loudly enough for everybody to hear. " The Uzumaki having a reputation for being hot headed is not an excuse. If there is one thing that I hate in this world, it is people like you who only take note of their own pathetic wants and needs, without ever reading the situation. In case you forgot, we're in the capital as guests of the daimyo. He already said no fighting, and you just ignored his orders. Some good Samaritans could say that you just don't respect him. Even the heads of the clans obeyed the ceasefire order, but a girl like you, from a fallen clan with no legitimate status in the Land of Fire, dares to attack the princess of a noble shinobi clan. I've got to say, I don't know if you're a brave idiot or you just don't care about the rest of the survivors of your clan and their future. And what's worse is that you're clearly here only because the Senju want to give their cousins some face, and yet you don't care about the tight spot you're putting them in by your actions. You don't care about how the daimyo will think that the Senju are becoming so arrogant that they let a brat start a fight right under his nose. You don't care about the damage we will probably cause the civilians who had nothing to with this. And you don't even care about the lives of your cousins who you are putting at risk for no reason."
By now everybody was looking at her while she gave her little speech. Her brothers, friends and even the Senju had dropped their fighting stances and were staring at her, surprised at her analyses of the situation. Jinshi and the civilians were disapprovingly staring at Mito. And the realization of what she was doing finally downed on the girl, whose eyes widened even more.
But Haruka had neither patience nor pity for her. A perfect occasion to work on their peace plans was ruined because of her, and the situation had even worsened. The politics in this world were already hard enough to navigate as is, no need to throw a pig team mate in the mix too. She tightened her hold on the broken hand a bit more, to let some of her frustration go away. Mito could only let out a yelp because her mouth was still tightly gripped.
Finally, Haruka said, "Let me make this really easy for you to understand. I am Uchiha Haruka. I'm a really nice person in general, and a doctor who likes to save lives more than taking them. But that doesn't mean that I can't or won't. The moment I looked at you, I had already come up with five different ways to kill you, each more painful than the last. You're just lucky that I'm in a good mood today, and that I don't want to dirty my pretty kimono nor cause a diplomatic incident. So here's what we're going to do. I am going to let you go, and without making another sound, you are going to go and hide behind one of your cousins. Make sure that I can't see you because that will make me change my mind. And it gets really ugly when I let my blood thirst out. After that, my group and I will be on our way, and hopefully no other incident like this will happen in the next two weeks." She had activated her Sharingan to give her threatening tone more weight. And the girl who was the same height, and probably age, as Izuna was positively shaking.
After Haruka let her go, she rushed to hide behind Tobirama, who was the closest, whilst cupping her shattered fingers with tears in her eyes. Haruka's group, Jinshi included, had also heard her, and for once even Izuna just obeyed without questioning. They continued their way down the street towards the shop, shoulders still tense. When she passed by Hashirama, she gave him a look that probably looked angry with her Sharingan still active, and even she didn't know what she meant by that look. The civilians just made way to let them pass without bumping into anyone, clearly wary of the tense shinobi. Although some of them gave her a bit of an approving and even grateful look. What was that about?
Haruka had thought that their little outing was ruined. Even when they got into the shop, they just silently browsed each to their own thoughts. The displays were all arranged in a modern way with Haruka's help, which gave the shop a style that what was probably unique in the whole world.
Their group wasn't really interested in the cosmetics or clothes section because they had the same things for cheaper at home, and the Hyuga, as their close friends, had the same access. They directly went to the art section and walked between the elegantly arranged displays, their group still silent. Once they were far enough from the other visitors, Izuna couldn't hold it in anymore and whispered for only them to hear. "Five different ways? I only got three."
Jinshi, who was the closest to him, piped in. "I got four, but I have to use my Byakugan for two of them."
Natsuki was discouraged as she said, "I only got two, and I'm still racking my brain for the third, but I don't see how I could get past her bodyguards fast enough to do that."
Hikaku just snorted haughtily. "I only need one genjutsu to seal the deal. Quality over quantity!"
Madara sighed. " Could the lot of you stop plotting bloody murder? I'm trying to enjoy browsing through painted pots and lids, or whatever that is anyway."
Haruka turned to look back at her friends, Sharingan finally deactivated, and she couldn't help but burst out laughing. The others immediately joined her. Truth be told, Izuna was really great at dissolving tense situations.
The rest of their stay in the capital was spent without any incidents. They were invited everywhere, and barely had the time to fit every noble in their schedule. They met with the Senju group multiple times, but only Butsuma and Tajima exchanged barbs. The Senju brothers were all hell bent on ignoring them, and even Hashirama was oddly silent whenever he was in their presence. Almost depressed. Not that they cared anyway, they were all still pretty pissed.
The news of what had happened had spread like wildfire. Haruka's every word and action was reported to the daimyo, his ministers and nobles. Apparently, she had said something that greatly pleased them, because they were especially warm to her and the Uchiha delegation in general, a first since the Uchiha didn't really mingle with them like the Senju did. Tajima was so happy with her and the new contacts he had made, that he took her on a shopping spree in one of the capital's best jewelry shops.
During the first official banquet held in court, the daimyo himself made a snide remark to Senju Butsuma about the incident, but he didn't push it too far, because his relationship with the Senju was quite deep and he didn't want to put his old friend in a tight spot. He even invited Hashirama, who they later learned was his favorite godson, to a late night gambling party he was throwing later, to show that they weren't out of favor with him.
While the Senju were doing great on the daimyo's front, they didn't have the advantage of a female clan member to represent them in the ladies seating area. An advantage Haruka milked for all its worth. Her past life came in handy once again, because she was a carefully trained socialite as part of her cover, so mingling with the noble ladies was nothing to her after receiving a crash course in this court's etiquette.
As mentioned before, her kimonos were a huge hit and the ladies all ordered some models they were assured would be unique and not sold in the shop.
Unlike some of the noble ladies, she didn't fawn on the favorite concubines, and preferred the company of the daimyo's slightly older wife. She was playing the long game, and she knew that concubines come and go, only the legal wife has a permanent, stable and influential position even if she didn't have her husband's ear as much as the others. After all, she was still the mother of the heir, and Madara had told her that even if the daimyo liked to surround himself with women, he was a man who put the rules of propriety above all else.
The daimyo's wife wasn't that pretty, but she was born noble and raised for her position from birth. She was cunning, and knew that Haruka had ulterior motives in befriending her, but she was pleased that the Uchiha recognized her true value unlike a lot of the nobles, and befriended her all the same. From her, Haruka learned that Uzumaki Mito was initially invited to the banquet too, as a favor done to both the rest of her clan and to the Senju, but after their incident the daimyo had revoked the invitation to not offend Uchiha Tajima whose only daughter was greatly humiliated.
Haruka was invited by the daimyo's wife to a lot of tea parties, and given that they were at the same mental age, they developed a great friendship. Even after she left, they still exchanged letters regularly, and the Uchiha were now always on the list for any celebration at the palace.
Madara wasn't exactly a social butterfly, but he liked to discuss weaponry with some of the invited samurai, who enjoyed banquets as much as he did, and so they all formed a small group that always sat together with the minister of defense.
Only Izuna was a huge hit on both sides. The ministers and nobles liked to hang out with him, because of his outgoing and slightly wild but still polite persona, and the ladies, especially the younger ones, liked to go and spy on him in the men's section or interrogate Haruka thoroughly about his likes and dislikes. His handsome face coupled with a shinobi's dangerous aura made him stand out from the regular pretty face scholars. Only Senju Hashirama enjoyed the same level of attention from the capital's ladies. Gifts and love letters started being delivered to their house from the first day, along with an invitation to "go take a walk in one of the gardens of the capital." And judging by his slightly disheveled look whenever he went out alone for an hour or two, or on the two occasions she had caught him sneaking back in late at night, he was taking full advantage of the experience. Haruka was relieved that she had already had the Talk with him, even if he had tried to run away from the room all the time she was speaking. At least he knew how to be safe and was smart enough to keep himself from causing any huge scandal.
On their last day in the capital, the twins and Hikaku had finally managed to accomplish the mission they had brought Natsuki with them for. After some careful planning, they had managed to trick Madara and Natsuki into going on a picnic alone as a first date while the others spied on them with the help of Jinshi's Byakugan. Haruka would never push either of them into something they didn't want, but Natsuki had clearly not gotten over her childhood crush, and Madara liked her and her strong personality a lot, he just wasn't a romantic guy. They both needed a bit of help to jump start their relationship. They were both as red as tomatoes when they first realized what was happening, but they went along with it anyway, and on their way back to the compound, everybody, even Tajima, had noticed that Madara was deliberately slowing down so that they could talk in private in the back of the group.